The book entitled “Luca Meda architetture, design e disegni” curated by Nicola Braghieri, Sabina Carboni and Serena Maffioletti with critical essays by Giampiero Bosoni, Rosa Chiesa, Alberto Ferlenga, Beatrice Lampariello, Chiara Lecce, Mario Piazza and Dario Scodeller, published by Silvana Editoriale (2021), is the first monographic publication devoted to him.
For the first time, in fact, it proposes a critical analysis covering all the different aspects of Meda’s work, an accurate biography and a complete catalogue of his works. This publication marks the beginning of research into Luca Meda’s work, developed by the Archivio Progetti of the University Iuav of Venice, with the gratuitous acquisition of Meda’s personal archive, according to the wishes of his widow Giulia Balossi Restelli and of his daughters Chiara and Sofia. The task of putting his archive in order, undertaken in 2013, was completed with the organisation, inventory and description of the archival fund.
The Molteni Group has backed the publication with enthusiasm, not only financially, but by putting its historic archive at the disposal of the authors. The archive preserves a sizable part of Meda’s work. He was a company man, who, with his congenial character and professional approach, plotted the development of a great industrial group, today a leader in its field worldwide.
Luca Meda, the happiness of a project
Luca Meda, a reliable company man and a happy artist, was a protagonist of Italian industrial design and architecture between the 1960s and 1990s. A clever designer and inventive artist, he successfully combined the world of industrial manufacturing with that of figurative art.
His projects perfectly illustrate the strong bond that linked the business culture with the inventiveness of its artisans, its architects and its artists. “Luca Meda architecture, design and drawings” is a volume that invites us to reflect on the fine line that separates architecture and industrial design, the invention of memory. The book presents the drawings, the prototypes and the products in order to celebrate the persistence of few and precise forms.
Luca Meda and the Molteni Group
For the companies of the Molteni Group, from 1968, when he joined Molteni&C, he covered the role of art director, which enabled him to tackle industrial design full on, dealing not only with furnishing design projects, but in parallel with settings, image, catalogues, photography and graphics, effectively shaping companies such as Molteni&C and Dada, into the forms that we recognise today.
Here we remember just a few of the many projects that he developed: daytime systems such as 505 (1972) and Pass (1997), nighttime systems such as 7volte7 (1988) and Glissquattro (1991), Serie Teatro (1982) and the Piroscafo bookcase (1991) with Aldo Rossi, individual furnishings such as Les Beaux Jours (1985), Vivette (1988), Capotavola (1988), Risiedo (1988), Portafinestra (1989) and Primafila (1990); kitchens for Dada, such as Vela (1993), Pergola ( 1986) and Banco (1994); office furniture such as Misura (1973) with Richard Sapper and Progetto 25 (1985).
